Searching For Elsewhere
by Yui2
Summary: Years after Jonas disappears, Lily is chosen to be the new reciever when she turns into a Twelve. She experiences true love for Asher and sadness from the loss of Jonas. Soon she takes Asher with her on a search to find Elsewhere, where Jonas might be.
1. The Ceremony of Twelves

**Author's Note:** I have read The Giver several times, and I just wanted to make a sequel. I know there is a sequel published, but I forgot the title. It's called. . ._Blue_. . .something. Sorry, my brain is kind of dead right now. But anyway, this is rated PG for minor sexual scenes later on in the chapters.   
  


_Jonas_. It was a name that was to never been spoken of again. He just disappeared one day, and no one in the small community of Sameness knew what had happened to him - except for The Giver. But alas, The Giver did not tell them anything. He said he did not know of what had happened to Jonas. The Giver only told them that he guessed Jonas had drowned in the river. 

There was no weeping in the community. People were slightly sad, but there were no tears. They barely felt anything at all. A few cursed him for taking Gabriel, the small toddler with him, but it really didn't matter, they said. Gabriel was to be released anyway. 

Time went on and everyone almost completely forgot about Jonas. He was just a wisp of memory. Lily, however, did not feel the same. She thought about him often, but wasn't quite able to experience sadness. 

Now here Lily was in the Ceremony of Twelve. She kept thinking of Jonas many years ago, when she was just a little Seven (actually, she was turning Eight on that day) and he was singled out to recieve special training from The Giver. 

Lily noticed something odd. The Giver was at the December Ceremony, and he was seperated from the other elders. The last time The Giver was at the Ceremony was when a Reciever was to be chosen, who was Jonas. He rarely attended the Ceremony unless a Reciever was going to be chosen. So could it be that someone would be given the job of a Reciever. . .? 

Lily's heart started pounding fast when the Chief Elder started calling up the new Twelves by their numbers to be assigned a special role in the community. Lily's number was number 10, and she watched nervously as number 9 was called up. It was a small boy named Adam, and Lily just looked around absent-mindedly as the Chief Elder gave Adam the role of being a Pilot. 

Lily didn't know what she wanted to be assigned. When she was young she yearned to be a Birthmother, then a Nurturer, then an Instructor of Elevens. But here her future was going to be spoken of, and now a pinch in her stomach had formed. 

"Number 11." The Chief Elder called up. 

Lily's eyes widened. They skipped her! It must have been a mistake. . .Or could it be that. . . 

Lily was to be the next Reciever? 

'No!' In her mind she screamed. 'This can't be happening! This must be a mistake!' But she could not do anything about it. 'I. . .I'm not going to be the next Reciever, am I?' 

Suddenly Lily missed Jonas deeply. It was the most powerful. . .Well, she wasn't quite sure what it was. What were they called? _Feelings?_ She blinked, and suddenly the feeling of loss for Jonas washed away as quickly as it came. 

Lily sat there, feeling slightly light-headed. The Chief Elder called up number after number and finally they all been assigned their small roles in the community. The audience stared up at Lily as the Chief Elder finally turned to her. 

"Lily. . .I know I have skipped you." There was complete deafening silence from the audience. "I apologize." 

"Apology accepted-" She stopped. The thought of Jonas came back. It was as if the same scene four years ago was being repeated, except Lily was in Jonas' position. 

"You have not been assigned. You have been singled out to give special training from The Giver. Yes, you are the next Reciever, Lily. We thank you for your childhood." 

Lily opened her mouth in shock, unable to say anything. 


	2. The Stirrings

**Author's Note:**Disclamer - I do not own any of Lois Lowry's characters and I didn't write the original novel _The Giver_. A few of my own made-up ideas and the main plot are for my own sequel "Searching For Elsewhere". Please R&R. Comments, suggestions and questions are appreciated. WARNING: This chapter has minor explicit content.   
  


A few weeks later Lily woke up and blinked. She had the weirdest dream. And when Lily went to the kitchen table that morning her parents asked her if she had any dreams. At first she hesitated, but poor Lily had to tell. 

But then she stopped. No, she didn't have to tell. The Giver told her now that she was the new Reciever she could lie anytime she wanted to. So Lily just said, "No, I didn't have any dreams last night." 

As her parents nodded and chated on Lily started to daydream. She had the most amazing dream about Asher, Jonas' old best friend. Asher still came to visit Lily's dwelling every once in a while, even though it had been over four years since Jonas had disappeared. Often when he visited their dwelling he would have simple conversations with Lily, but ignored the subject about Jonas since it was forbidden. 

But her dream was very unusual. Lily was in her room, and Asher was there also. Asher was talking to her and was smiling and laughing with her. Then he pushed Lily gently down on the bed and he looked into her eyes. It was an akward but pleasurable moment. Lily felt this strong wanting. It was something she was craving when she looked back at Asher in the dream, but she couldn't quite understand what the wanting was. 

Then Asher reached out to her face and touched her cheek and he leaned in closer to her, then his lips briefly touched hers. . . 

And then Lily woke up. She felt uncomfortable in happy in an odd sort of way. She wanted to have the dream again, and yet she felt guilty about it. Something felt wrong about those. . ._feelings_ she had for Asher. 

'Besides,' Lily thought. 'Asher probably, I don't know, think I was stupid if he found out about the dream. He's four years older than me! He's a Sixteen, anyway.' 

There was no Ceremony for children older than Twelves. It was just to be announced on the Speaker. Asher was a Sixteen and his training would be over in a couple of years when he turned into an Eighteen, then he would be officially an adult of the community. 

Asher was intelligent and hard-working, Lily knew. He was assigned the role of Assistant Director of Recreation. She admired him, and there was something more deep inside her than just looking up to him. She felt a craving for him all the time, and ever since The Giver had given her the Memory of romance (she felt stupid when she looked back on this) everytime Lily saw Asher her cheeks went hot and she wanted to get closer to him for some reason. 

But that dream. . .It was something stirring inside her when she had it - That was it! It was the Stirrings! Lily had heard of them before, and you were forced to take a small pill everyday so you wouldn't get the Stirrings. She had wondered about what they exactly were, and now Lily had experienced them. 

There was no way Lily would talk to her parents about it. It was too akward and embarressing. Should she have talked to The Giver. . .? No. Lily wouldn't feel comfortable talking to a Elder male about her Stirrings. 

"Lily?" Her mother was looking at her strangely. 

"Yes? Oh, I apologize for not paying attention." She said quickly. 

"Apology accepted." Her mother smiled. "Now, you should be going to recieve your training. . ." 

"Yes, mother." Lily smiled back, but inside she felt slightly fearful to go see The Giver. "I'll go get my bike. Good-bye." 

As Lily rode her bike to go see The Giver, she was trembling. Last time she saw him he gave her the Memory of needles, where a sharp pain was injected inside Lily's small arm. She shuttered to think about it. 

But Lily rode on, trying to shake away the thoughts. She went back to thinking of the Stirrings. 


	3. Mournful

**Author's Note:** This chapter is pretty G-rated. R&R please.   
  


Over the past few weeks Lily was terrified of what kind of pain she was to experience. But she relaxed a little because The Giver was very kind to her. The Giver was the same one that Jonas had, but they never were on the topic of what had happened to Jonas. It probably caused The Giver great pain mentally, and Lily knew this because the third Memory he gave her was about a little child from the past had his kitten killed by an aggresive dog right in front of him. Lily wept for many days after that. 

The Giver told Lily that he wanted to get the training over with. He said he had failed the last two Recievers who came to him, and he was going to try to make it as gentle as possible for her. 

The Giver always looked very sad and exhausted. Lily felt sorry for him, but she never asked him why he always looked so sorrowful. 

But then she remembered that two years ago their utopia went in a chaos. Sudden memories flooded all the people who were in the community and it was said that the women and children were to get the memories out first. So The Giver came and took away the memories starting with the children, and Lily was one of the first. 

But she couldn't remember what the memories were that The Giver took from her. It was just a small whisp of something colorless and slightly depressing. 

"Giver?" Lily said. She had finally stopped thinking of the Stirrings she had in her dream and now thinking of her brother who had disappeared. 

"Yes?" The Giver responded. 

"I. . ." She took a breath before she started. "I sometimes get this sudden feeling of. . .Well, I don't know. It's when I think of Jo- Jonas. I miss him so, but it's something deeper than that." 

The Giver looked at her and smiled. It was a wise, caring smile. But yet a sadness was in his twinkling eyes. 

"That feeling that you just explained to me that happens so sudden is called _feeling beyond_. I had the same thing, except it was different. What I experienced before I became the Reciever was _hearing beyond_, and your brother experienced what was called _seeing beyond_. The face that you can have feeling beyond says a lot about yourself and your personality." 

Lily stared at him, very puzzled. 

"It's probably the feeling of loss and sorrow that you have for Jonas. You're a caring person, Lily. You remind me a lot of my Rosemary. . ." A sudden pain showed in The Giver's face. 

"Rosemary?" Lily asked. 

The Giver waved his hand and closed his eyes. "Nevermind that. Now, lay down and I will transfer the Memory of loss and sorrow to you. Then things will be more clear." 

Lily obeyed him and layed down on her stomach and closed her eyes. The Giver placed his hands on her back and she felt the Memory come to her suddenly. 


	4. Risky

**Author's Note:** Continuing "Searching For Elsewhere." I'm trying to get this to become better and better as I go along. . .Hope you like it :)   
  


A year went by. Lily had the Memories of love, loss, sorrow, pain, pleasure, romance, colors, and countless others. Lily grew depressed and felt so alone. No one knew how she felt except The Giver. She still wanted to share her feelings and how much pain she had stuck inside her. 

All Lily wanted was to have her beloved brother Jonas back, and when she wasn't thinking about that it was Asher, who was now a Seventeen, that she wanted. Lily still wasn't taking the Pills, but she lied to her parents and said she was. 

Asher was so tall and handsome. A blush would fill her cheeks everytime she thought of him. She had dreams about him so often now, and everyday she fell in love with him more - even if she didn't see him. 

Lily always felt shy around Asher now. She was getting more and more desprete to have him until it hurt. It felt like she was floating and her head was always spinning at the slightest thought of him. Her heart would leap everytime she saw him. 

Lily was thinking of a way that they could be together. Finally she came to the decision that she would take away the Pills he was probably forced to take so he wouldn't have the Stirrings. She would sneek into his dwelling. . .somehow. 

One night Lily stayed wide awake. When it came to midnight she fled out from her dwelling and sneaked into Asher's, which wasn't far away. This was daring and dangerous, but it was a risk she would take. The girl somehow found a way to get in the dwelling from the back and crept her way upstairs quietly. The children in the family unit were told sleep upstairs, and the parents downstairs. It was the society's laws. 

Lily walked into a bedroom on the left. It was the wrong room. Asher's little sister, Sophia, who was a Four, was snoring loudly with her Comfort Object (which Lily reconized as a stuffed Turtle) in her small chubby hands. 

Lily felt stupid and backed out of the room. She had forgotten that the older sibiling slept in the right-hand room. Ever since Jonas had gone the bedroom on the right remained empty. Lily still slept in the left-hand room, because the family unit was never given a child to replace Jonas. Lily was grateful for this, because she couldn't imagine anyone replacing Jonas. 

She walked into the right-hand room and saw Asher on his bed. His face was stuffed into the pillow so you couldn't really see him, but she still felt her heart skip. Lily saw the Pill bottle on his dresser and she very quietly and gently grabbed it and put it into her pocket. 

But Lily just couldn't leave. Something was pulling her torward him, and she started to feel hot. She kissed Asher softly on his cheek and then rushed out of the room, now her palms feelings sweaty. 

Lily couldn't leave their dwelling yet. She had to make sure every single Pill bottle was gone so Asher couldn't borrow his parent's bottles. But his parents would probably get the Stirrings. 

'It doesn't matter!' Lily thought. 'Nothing will come between me and Asher!' 

Lily knew it took a day to order just one bottle of Pills, so you had to order a new bottle a few days before you ran out of Pills. So Lily found three other bottles in the dwelling and she searched it an extra time to make sure she had them all. Then she left. 

As Lily ran out of the dwelling she felt almost satisfied. But yet, she felt slightly guilty. Lily knew that if you took the Pills it would take the Stirrings away, and she wanted Asher to get the Stirrings. She herself had never taken the Pills, but Lily couldn't bare the thought of loving Asher no longer. 

Lily hid in the shadows to avoid the moonlight that would make the chances of her being seen higher. And once she got back to her own dwelling, she hid the Pills under her pillow and fell asleep with a smile on her face. 


	5. Bike Riding

**Author's Note:** I don't know if you would say that in the last chapter Lily seemed sort of out of character, but I would love to hear your opinion. . .I thought it would be interesting to make a kind of twist like that :) The plot will thicken along the way, just hang in there for now, things are just getting smoothed out. . .   
  


"Father?" Asher said. He bit down on his lip. He felt embarressed to bring up the subject of the Stirrings. 

"Yes?" His father looked at him through his glasses. 

"Where are the Pills? I. . .I can't seem to find them. I just had them on my dresser yesterday, and I had an extra bottle in the bathroom. But now they're gone." 

His father blinked. "Umm, well, I can't find my Pills either. It's interesting that you brought that up. . .Do you know what might have happened to them?" 

"Er, I don't know. Actually, the Stirrings are coming back." Asher's face flushed. The last time he had the Stirrings was when he was an Eleven, and that was quite a while ago. Now he was a Seventeen and the Stirrings were back stronger than ever. 

He had searched the whole house. They wasn't a bottle in sight. He even had to ask his mother, and she had no idea what had happened to them either. It was strange, because the whole time he was looking for the Pills he couldn't stop thinking of Lily. And for some odd reason he felt kind of stupid, having this craving for a Thirteen. 

Last time Asher had ever felt such a craving was when he was an Eleven and it was for a different girl. He had a couple of dreams about Fiona, who was working in the House of the Elders now. But they weren't nearly as powerful feelings as he had for Lily now. 

Asher also remembered Jonas, who told him akwardly that he felt the Stirrings for Fiona. But he didn't feel jealousy at all since Asher had already been put on the Pill when he told his parents about his own dreams. 

It would take a day to re-order the Pills. But something deep inside Asher made him not want to take them anymore. Before in his school, many years ago, the Instructors told the class that it was dangerous to not take the Pills - and the older you got the more dangerous it would get. But really, it didn't seem dangerous at all to Asher. 

But it wasn't just the Stirrings. It was something else deep inside him. It made his heart sort of flutter everytime he thought of Lily's face and their small conversations. She was so enjoyable, so likable, so sweet. . . 

"Mother, father, I'm going over to go bike riding. I'll be back soon." His parents looked at him, puzzled, as Asher ran out of the house to get his bike. 

But he didn't tell his parents that he was going to see Lily. He didn't lie to his parents, however. He just told them that he was going to go bike riding, which he was. So they wasn't anything wrong in doing this, right? 


	6. The Decision

**Author's Note:** Okay, I think this story will get up to about 10 chapters. . .   
  


"Oh, hello Asher." Lily's mother looked at him suprisingly. "We haven't had you come over for quite a while now. Is there anything we can do for you?" 

"Well, I was just wondering. . .Uh, I apologize for just coming to your house without being invited." Asher's face grew hot. 

"I accept your apology." 

"Is Lily there?" 

"No, she's in training right now. She'll be back in a few hours though." The mother looked at him, puzzled. 

"Oh, okay. Well, I better get going then. Good-bye." And Lily's mother nodded in return, still slightly confused.   
***   


"Giver." Lily said quietly. 

"Yes?" 

"I can't take this anymore. . .I-I need to get away from this place. No one understands how we feel, and they make _us_ hold all the pain! I just can't stand it anymore. . ." Lily was in a lot of pain at the moment, thinking back of the Memory of being alone. 

"That's what we're here for. We were selected to have this role." The Giver gave her another one of those sad smiles. 

"I want Jonas back. I need to find him. . .Giver, I need to leave this place. No one feels what I feel, except you." She looked up at him in hope. "Come with me. We can leave this all behind us." 

"Lily. . ." He shook his head. "Do you know how many times I have been through this? You are the third Reciever in training I've had. This is the most Recievers that have ever came to any of the past Givers. I am too weak, and the chances of surviving out there, trying to reach Elsewhere. . ." 

"Maybe Jonas has reached Elsewhere, though! What if he has? I can't just stay here. . .He's my brother and I want to see him again. We can't leave this all behind us, so they know how we feel." Her eyes darkened slightly. 

As soon Lily said it, she regreted it. Shame quickly appeared across her face. "Well, we used to be them, though. . ." 

The Giver nodded. "Yes." 

"But I can't live the rest of my life here, in this world. I want to be free, I want to go on a search for Elsewhere and live with Jonas and As-" She caught herself almost saying the name _Asher_. 

The Giver sighed. "If you must. . .Maybe you can escape." He looked at her, deep in thought. "But I'm afraid maybe Jonas didn't make it to Elsewhere. There is still a chance, but it would be best if someone could go along with you. . ." 

"But the only way someone would want to go with me," Lily continued. "They would have to have some Memories. So I would have to transfer some Memories you gave to me to someone else. . ." 

She stopped. "Giver, I think I know who could come with me." 

"Who is that?" He asked. 

"Asher." Lily partly smiled. "Jonas' old best friend." 


	7. The Escape

**Author's Note:** This has turned out to be a really hard fic to write. . .So forgive me if it doesn't turn out as good as you would expect it to be. I'm doing my best to improve my writing skills to complete this fic. I know it's not that big a deal, but I take all my writing pretty seriously :)   
-Glitter Angel   
  


They were free. They were gone from it all. 

Lily and Asher were on their bikes, pedaling as fast as they could under the moonlight. They were in too much excitment to be tired from lack of sleep. They petaled quickly, because The Giver told them to run as fast as they could to get away from the utopia. If they caught them, they would be Released. But even if they didn't get caught although they were moving quite fast, they still had to go faster before winter came. 

A month had passed. It took careful planning and Asher had to make up a lot of exuses for why he wasn't in his dwelling and spending so much time with Lily. They were with The Giver the whole time, and Lily and The Giver would give Asher some Memories to understand everything. 

Lily and Asher had hidden their bikes underneath a large bush next to the river. At midnight they managed to flee from their dwellings and meet each other. Both of them had brought as much food as possible, for The Giver had told them it would be a long journey ahead of them. 

Asher had experienced a lot of pain from the Memories. He and Lily were able to weep together, and she finally felt that she could share her feelings with someone else. And she was deeply in love with him. 

Lily was glad that The Giver agreed for them to be the ones to run away. And Asher once admitted to her that he wasn't taking the Pills no longer. She was shocked, but delightful. She wondered what he thought of her. 

Lily wanted to kiss him badly. She would spend as much time as possible with him ever since she and The Giver planned with him the escape. Lily and Asher would spend time with each other so much that people began to look at them suspiciously. But that was the least of their worries. 

The next day, Lily and Asher finally gave out from exhaustion. They stopped their bikes and stuffed them underneath a bush, and made a large pile of leaves underneath a dark tree. They had gone as far as they could, and their bodies were screaming for rest. 

Lily and Asher ate some left over food The Giver had given them and then they fell asleep.   
***   


The next morning, Lily awoke in Asher's arms. She felt warm but her muscles ached all over terribly from bike riding for so long. But the pain went away for a split second as she looked at her Asher, who was in a deep sleep. Her face went red and she smiled, noticing that his hands were wrapped tightly around her waist. 

Lily knew that she had to get up, but she was warm and tired and comfortable. She put her arms around Asher and closed her eyes, falling back into a peaceful sleep. 


End file.
